And they don’t have to take forever. “I’ve found that most recipes for infusions tell people to leave stuff steeping for entirely too long,” says Marcia Simmons on Serious Eats. (As an infused alcohol experimenter myself, I have to agree with her.) “Herbs, hot peppers, and vanilla beans, for instance, can make an intensely flavored infusion in as little as a day,” she says.
Here are quickie infusions that are sure to make them happy…

They will just love drinking up.

]]>I Never Knew You Could Do THIS With Leftover Mashed Potatoeshttp://asmarterwoman.com/i-never-knew-you-could-do-this-with-leftover-mashed-potatoes/
Sat, 30 Dec 2017 23:38:36 +0000http://www.viralnova.com/mashed-potato-waffles/

I love mashed potatoes as much as the next carb connoisseur, but they do have one big flaw…

Leftover mashed potatoes are entirely unappetizing.

They’re cold, clumpy, and all-around disgusting looking. While my taste buds tell me to just throw the mushy potatoes away, I hate wasting food. But instead of dreading…and generally ignoring them in my fridge, now I can actually look forward to the leftovers.

Friends, you’re about to fall in love with these leftover mashed potato WAFFLES.

If you read anything on this list, make it this. Though published 14 years ago, Fast Food Nation is no less relevant today, giving voice to the hardworking men and women behind the millions of nuggets, patties, pies, and fries that we continue to so mindlessly consume.

Like many of us, Frank Bruni has long struggled with his weight. But what happens when the former chief restaurant reviewer for the New York Times turns a critic’s eye on his own eating habits? Born Round is equal parts heartbreaking and funny, a four-star read.

4. For anyone who’s been on Atkins or just really likes butter: The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz

Atkins may have been right all along. According to Nina Teicholz’s research, the low-fat frenzy of the past half-century was based on bogus — if well-meaning — science. How this became federal policy and shaped generations of American dieting is a deeply compelling cautionary tale.

Even 15 years later, Bourdain’s remains the preeminent curtain-pull among epicurean exposés. Somehow, his down-and-dirty account of the madmen and -women behind haute cuisine doesn’t detract from our enjoyment of the food. In fact, it might just make us enjoy it more.

6. For anyone who wishes Kitchen Confidential had been compressed into 24 hours: Sous Chef by Michael Gibney

Gibney takes two bold turns in this remarkable debut: 1) He limits himself to just 24 hours, and 2) he pivots to present it all in the second person. The result is an extra-urgent, in-the-trenches tumble through a day in the life on the line.

7. For anyone who liked Kitchen Confidential but wanted more sex and drugs: The Devil in the Kitchen by Marco Pierre White

8. For anyone who dreads grocery shopping, or just wants help doing it: What to Eat by Marion Nestle

You know not to grocery shop when hungry, but do you know what to look for — and avoid — in each aisle? Marion Nestle’s blow-by-blow guide to supermarket shopping is a godsend: a delight to read and easy to reference on the fly.

9. For anyone who wants to know why they hate tomatoes: Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook

Gaffigan brings his trademark wit to our cultural cravings, waxing poetic on everything from Hot Pockets to Cinnabon. Food: A Love Story is written for the everyman — the hungry man — who remains suspicious of kale and enamored with bacon.

11. For anyone who thought Eat, Pray, Love was overrated and really just wanted Julia Roberts to open a kick-ass restaurant in New York: Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

Random House

Sergi Alexander / Getty

By far the best-written chef’s memoir on this list, Blood, Bones & Butter is clearly the work of a pro. And it makes sense, seeing as Hamilton holds an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Michigan, in addition to her stints as a dishwasher, underage bartender, world traveler, and catering director. If you’re ever in New York, her tiny restaurant, Prune, is worth a visit.

Don’t let all these raucous, debauched restaurant memoirs fool you — being a chef takes hard work. Ruhlman’s detailed look inside the Harvard of U.S. culinary schools is proof.

13. For anyone who likes to learn (and fail) on the fly: Heat by Bill Buford

Random House

Bebeto Matthews / AP Images

If school’s just not your thing, you might identify more closely with Buford’s approach to the culinary arts. Bypassing any formal training — or even former restaurant experience — Buford jumped from his job at The New Yorker to the kitchen of Mario Batali’s famed restaurant, Babbo. His resulting education is hectic, hard-won, and hilarious.

You might not recognize all of Huang’s many punchy pop culture references, but that doesn’t make Fresh Off the Boat any less fun. Whether discussing Asian-American stereotypes or soup dumplings in Taiwan, Huang writes with delightful verve. It’s easy to see why this book translates so seamlessly to the screen.

Shapiro roves from the origins of Betty Crocker to the miracle of canned bread, showing how mid-century feminism and postwar technology united to produce bizarre foodie fads unlike any we’ve seen since.

16. For anyone wondering why Lunchables are still a thing: Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss

Michael Pollan is the king of contemporary food writing, swirling together history, science, and sociology with surprising élan. The Omnivore’s Dilemma is essential reading for anyone trying to grasp the full scope of food in America, which, it turns out, is mostly made of corn.

Seriously, this guy can write. In Cooked, Pollan invites us to learn alongside him as he masters the art of preparing food with the four classical elements — fire, water, air, and earth. So if you’ve ever consumed barbecue, bread, beer, or bourguignon and wondered how it all came to be, this book is for you.

This is the brainier version of Cooked, with a legitimate “Chemistry Primer” appendix on molecular reactions and the like. But phases of matter aside, On Food and Cooking is a veritable kitchen bible, with how-to and tell-me-why chapters on everything from “The Problem of Legumes and Flatulence” to “Why Pain Can Be Pleasurable.”

M.F.K. Fisher is the writer you probably haven’t heard of but definitely should know. Whether she’s describing a tiny restaurant in the French countryside or how to properly savor a tangerine — even how to boil water — Fisher’s words practically drip from the page. The Art of Eating represents her collected works, a transcontinental record of how to best enjoy the simple pleasures of a meal.

Proof of her beautiful prose, and inspiration for any aspiring food writers out there: “It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and hunger for it … and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied … and it is all one.”

Definitely a pro-gluten-free screed, Grain Brain presents the science on the side of our most recent de rigueur diet. Great for those with celiac disease and gluten intolerance, and maybe better taken with a grain of salt by the rest of us.

Another “wait till you hear where your _____ comes from” book, but somehow Kurlansky manages to make salt — yes, salt — a compelling protagonist. Who knew that this familiar, meek little mineral could have been the impetus for so many revolutions, conquests, and wars?

Having heard the virtues of Locavore and Slow Food diets endlessly extolled, Barbara Kingsolver decided to give it a try. Her whole-hog endeavor — transplanting her family from Tucson, Arizona, to rural Virginia, where they only consumed produce that they’d personally planted or raised — is drastic, but ultimately rewarding. She shows us how to reconnect with the land and ourselves, thinking mindfully about what we eat and how it’s made.

How do restaurants actually earn their stars? Go undercover with renowned New York Times food critic Ruth Reichl to see how egos, infighting, anonymity, and authenticity co-mingle to determine the fates of restaurateurs and their reviewers.

25. For anyone wondering where the phrase “You are what you eat” comes from: The Physiology of Taste by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Ever bite into a cake only to be entirely underwhelmed due to the lake of cake-to-frosting ratio?

Yeah, we’ve all been there.

But with poke cakes, that problem becomes entirely obsolete. You see, the dessert is exactly what it sounds like…cakes that have holes poked into them. They’re then doused with frosting, filling, and any other sweet treat you choose to pour over top.

In college, I basically lived off baked crescent rolls stuffed with tuna and cheese. I wish I had known then what I know now — that crescent rolls can be used to make just about anything!

Whether sweet or savory, the addition of crescents adds a fun twist to any dish. From sides to desserts, appetizers to game-day snacks, here are 21 recipes that will have you thinking about crescent rolls in a whole new way.

So much for avoiding the dreaded holiday weight gain. These are too good to resist!

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http://asmarterwoman.com/21-simple-delicious-crescent-roll-recipes-that-dont-belong-in-a-bread-basket/feed/017 Insane Fast Food Items You Had No Idea Existed. Some Of Which Look SO GOOD.http://asmarterwoman.com/17-insane-fast-food-items-you-had-no-idea-existed-some-of-which-look-so-good/
http://asmarterwoman.com/17-insane-fast-food-items-you-had-no-idea-existed-some-of-which-look-so-good/#respondSat, 30 Dec 2017 00:46:25 +0000http://viralnova.com/17-fast-food-items/

Indescribably unhealthy fast food isn’t just for Americans. The entire globe is guilty of creating food so amazingly tasty (and terrible) that the human race will be killed off in approximately 13.2 years. However, while you’re still alive, you might as well focus on trying at least one of these incredible foreign fast food items. Except for the wasabi donuts. Because, gross.

Did you know there’s a whole day set aside to recognize chocolate cupcakes?

I didn’t, but I’m 100 percent onboard.

Sure, your run-of-the-mill chocolate cupcake can really hit the spot, but there are so, SO many more options. Different icings, fillings, and types of chocolate can all be used to create your perfect celebratory sweet treat, so here are 14 of the most memorable recipes I could find.